ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JUNE 18-19, 2021 SPORTS 15

‘We will quickly take action, including strengthening of the measures’ Japan announces easing of virus emergency ahead of Olympics TOKYO, June 17, (AP): Japan on Thursday announced the easing of a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and six other areas from next week, with new daily cases falling just as the country begins final prepara- tions for the Olympics starting in just DeGrom pulled early, but Mets over a month. Japan has been struggling since late March to slow a wave of infections propelled by more contagious vari- ants, with new daily cases soar- ing above 7,000 at bullpen finishes win over Cubs one point and seriously ill patients straining hospitals in Tokyo, Osaka and other metropoli- tan areas. Suga Daily cases have since sub- sided significantly, paving the way for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to downgrade the state of emergency when it expires on Sunday to less stringent measures. The new measures will last until July 11 — just 12 days before the Games. Suga said the relaxed measures will focus on early closures of bars and restaurants. If another surge occurs and strains hospitals, “we will quickly take action, including strengthening of the mea- sures,” Suga said, addressing concerns by medical experts. Holding the Olympics before elec- tions in the fall is also a political gamble for Suga, whose support rat- ings have tumbled over dissatisfaction with his handling of the pandemic, a slow vaccination drive and a lack of explanation about how he intends to ensure the virus doesn’t spread during the Olympics. Experts at a virus panel meeting Thursday gave their approval for gov- ernment plans to downgrade the emer- gency in Tokyo, Aichi, Hokkaido, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka.

OLYMPICS

“We must do everything we can, and provide firm financial support as well,” to minimize risks of a resurgence of ’ Brandon Belt (9) slides into third base ahead of the tag by ’ Josh Rojas for a triple during the third inning of a baseball game, on June 16, in San infections, said Dr. Shigeru Omi, head Francisco. (AP) of a government COVID-19 panel. Japan does not enforce hard lock- areas, but the slowing has bottomed downs and the state of emergency out in the Tokyo region. He warned D-backs match MLB record with 22nd straight road loss allows prefectural leaders to order clo- that infections could increase and that sures or shorter hours for non-essential signs of a rebound are already seen businesses. Those that comply are among younger people. NEW YORK, June 17, compensated and violators fined. Stay- Even as more people are getting the at-home and other measures for the (AP): Jacob deGrom was MLB Results/Standings jabs and most of the country’s 36 mil- pulled from a second general population are only requests lion senior citizens are expected to be and are increasingly ignored. fully inoculated by the end of July, straight start with an arm At a parliamentary Health and Labor Committee last week, Omi cau- younger people are largely unvaccinat- injury, this time leaving WASHINGTON, June 17, (AP): Results and standings from the MLB games on Wednesday. ed and infections among them could tioned that holding the Olympics in the after three perfect innings Detroit 6 Kansas City 5 St Louis 1 Miami 0 middle of the pandemic is “abnormal” quickly burden hospitals, Wakita said. with right shoulder sore- Chic. W. Sox 8 Tampa Bay (10 inn) 7 Cincinnati 2 Milwaukee 1 and warned that it would increase the “In order to prevent another upsurge, Oakland 8 LA Angels 4 Colorado 8 San Diego 7 it is crucial to prevent the people from ness, but the New York NY Yankees 3 Toronto 2 Washington 3 Pittsburgh 1 risk of infections. Cleveland 8 Baltimore 7 NY Mets 6 Chicago Cubs 3 A team of experts on Wednesday roaming around during the Olympics Mets bullpen stepped up to Houston 8 Texas 4 San Francisco 13 Arizona 7 released a simulation showing a pos- and summer vacation,” he said. finish a three-hitter in a 6-3 Boston 10 Atlanta 8 Philadelphia 2 LA Dodgers 0 sible jump in cases during the Experts say it is crucial to accelerate Minnesota 7 Seattle 2 the vaccine rollout for the Olympics to win over the Chicago Cubs. American League National League Olympics if the spread of the new vari- One start after being pulled from East Division East Division ants and people’s movements increase be safe. Suga has opened up mass inoc- W L Pct GB W L Pct GB after emergency measures are eased. ulation centers and started vaccinations a gem against San Diego with flex- Tampa Bay 43 26 .623 _ New York 35 25 .583 _ Health Minister Norihisa Tamura at major companies, part of an ambi- or tendinitis in his right arm, Boston 42 27 .609 1 Philadelphia 33 33 .500 5 tious target of as many as 1 million New York 35 32 .522 7 Atlanta 30 35 .462 7-1/2 told reporters the government would deGrom went directly down the Toronto 33 33 .500 8-1/2 Washington 30 35 .462 7-1/2 not hesitate to issue another emergen- doses per day. As of Wednesday, only clubhouse tunnel after finishing Baltimore 22 45 .328 20 Miami 29 39 .426 10 cy declaration even in the middle of 6% of Japanese were fully vaccinated. the third against the Cubs. Central Division Central Division In hard- Osaka in western Japan, W L Pct GB W L Pct GB the Olympics to protect people’s lives. DeGrom said initial tests ruled out a Chicago 43 25 .632 _ Chicago 38 30 .559 _ The state of emergency will remain hospital capacity has improved and serious issue, but he planned to get Cleveland 37 28 .569 4-1/2 Milwaukee 38 30 .559 _ in Okinawa, where hospitals are still new infections dropped to 108 on imaging and more observation Kansas City 30 37 .448 12-1/2 Cincinnati 35 31 .530 2 Wednesday, down from more than Detroit 29 39 .426 14 St Louis 35 33 .515 3 overwhelmed, while Hiroshima and Thursday. Minnesota 27 41 .397 16 Pittsburgh 23 44 .343 14-1/2 Okayama will be taken off the list. 1,200 a day in late April. The right-hander struck out eight of West Division West Division Ryuji Wakita, the director-general In Tokyo, new cases are down to the nine batters he faced and lowered W L Pct GB W L Pct GB of the National Institute of Infectious around 500 per day from above 1,100 Oakland 43 27 .614 _ San Francisco 43 25 .632 _ his ERA to 0.54. Houston 39 28 .582 2-1/2 Los Angeles 41 27 .603 2 Diseases who heads a government in mid-May. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Sean Reid-Foley (2-0) relieved Seattle 34 36 .486 9 San Diego 38 32 .543 6 COVID-19 advisory board, said that Koike has said effective virus mea- deGrom and allowed one run over two Los Angeles 33 35 .485 9 Colorado 28 41 .406 15-1/2 infections have decreased in many sures need to be kept in place. innings. Anthony Rizzo ended the bid Texas 25 43 .368 17 Arizona 20 49 .290 23-1/2 for a combined perfect game or no- hitter by homering with one out in the 21st. He also doubled, but the Padres Sánchez’s 10th homer of the season fourth. lost for the 13th time in 17 games. in the seventh gave the Yankees back- Kevin Pillar opened the scoring Athletics 8, Angels 4 to-back wins behind key pinch hits, with an RBI off In Oakland, , Ramón following Clint Frazier’s go-ahead (0-1) in the second and homered in the Laureano hit a and made a double in the eighth inning of fifth. homer-robbing catch in his return from Tuesday’s 6-5 victory. Giants 13, Diamondbacks 7 the , and Oakland rallied Indians 8, Orioles 7 In San Francisco, Arizona dropped past Los Angeles for its sixth straight its 22nd straight road game, matching In Cleveland, Aaron Civale became the 1963 Mets and ’43 Philadelphia win. the first pitcher with 10 wins this sea- Athletics for the major league record son and José Ramírez homered and with a loss to San Francisco. BASEBALL drove in three runs as Cleveland Buster Posey hit a three-run homer extended Baltimore’s road losing in a first inning that lasted 43 minutes, streak to 18 games. Shohei Ohtani homered for the sec- while and LaMonte César Hernández had a two-run triple Wade Jr. connected in the fourth as ond straight day, giving him 19 for the and Ramírez had two hits and scored San Francisco sent its NL West rival to Angels. twice for the Indians, who moved a sea- a 13th consecutive loss overall. Pinch- White Sox 8, Rays 7, 10 Innings son-best nine games over .500. hitter Wilmer Flores added a two-run In Chicago, Yasmani Grandal hit a Nationals 3, Pirates 1 drive in the fifth and Brandon Belt hit game-ending RBI single in the 10th In Washington, Paolo Espino got his ninth homer that inning. inning and Chicago took two of three his first major league win at age 34, ’ Jacob deGrom from Tampa Bay in a matchup of divi- Josh Bell hit a two-run homer against Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani delivers a pitch during the third (7-2) won his third straight start. The sion leaders. his former team and Washington beat inning of the team’s baseball game Jóse Abreu hit his 12th homer of the People walk by posters to promote the Olympic Games planned to start in right-hander allowed two runs on five against the Chicago Cubs, on June Pittsburgh for a three-game sweep. the summer of 2021, in Tokyo, on June 16. (AP) hits, struck out five and walked one 16, in New York. (AP) season for the White Sox, who’ve won Espino (1-2) allowed three hits in over five innings. 10 of 13. five scoreless innings. Phillies 2, Dodgers 0 surging Red Sox beat Atlanta to move Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2 He struck out two, walked none and In Los Angeles, Zack Wheeler out- within one game of first place. In Buffalo, N.Y., Gerrit Cole threw 39 of his 53 pitches for strikes. Wheeler’s first ‘double-double’ pitched Clayton Kershaw, and Rhys Boston recovered after blowing a pitched eight effective innings, pinch- Tigers 6, Royals 5 Hoskins homered early to end an 6-3 lead. Freddie Freeman hit a go- hitter Gary Sánchez connected for a In Kansas City, Mo., Willi Castro leads LA Sparks over Mercury 0-for-33 slump as Philadelphia beat ahead homer for Atlanta in the sixth two-run homer and Aroldis Chapman homered during a three-run rally in the Los Angeles to avoid a three-game after Dansby Swanson’s three-run shot dodged trouble in the ninth as New seventh inning and Detroit beat Kansas LOS ANGELES, June 17, (AP): Erica also reached 1,500 career points. Kristi sweep. tied the game in the fifth. York Yankees held off Toronto. City for a three-game sweep. Wheeler scored 18 points, including a Toliver added 17 points, Amanda Hoskins connected in the first The Red Sox are one game behind The Royals have lost six in a row baseline jumper with 8.9 seconds left Zahui B. scored 15, Brittney Sykes 14 inning, J.T. Realmuto added an RBI AL East-leading Tampa Bay. and 11 of 12. Kansas City starter to seal the win, as and Bria Holmes had 10. double in the third . Reds 2, Brewers 1 Brady Singer was removed after just the Los Angeles Zahui B. scored 13 points in the first Los Angeles was shut out for the In Milwaukee, Tyler Mahle tied his three innings with tightness in his Sparks beat the half, Toliver added 12, and Los first time since Sept. 14, 2019. career high with 12 strikeouts, Tucker pitching shoulder. Phoenix Mercury Angeles used a 10-0 run to help build Astros 8, Rangers 4 Barnhart drove in the go-ahead run Cardinals 1, Marlins 0 85-80. a 53-43 lead at the break. Griner had In Houston, Jose Altuve homered with a double in the seventh inning, In St. Louis, Yadier Molina ground- Wheeler drib- 17 points and five rebounds in the first twice and made major league history and Cincinnati finished a three-game ed an RBI single down the third base bled down the half for Phoenix. by hitting a leadoff homer one game sweep of Milwaukee. line in the ninth inning and St. Louis clock at the top of after belting a walk-off , Cincinnati has won six straight and edged Miami to sweep the season the key and used a leading Houston past Texas. 11 of 13. series. high screen to get BASKETBALL Altuve connected again with a shot The Brewers dropped three straight Molina’s eighth career regular sea- into the lane but to the train tracks atop left field with for the first time in nearly a month and son walk-off hit came with one out and Phoenix center two outs in the eighth inning to extend were swept for the third time this sea- sent Miami to its fourth straight loss. Brittney Griner Wheeler Griner finished with a season-high the lead to 8-4 and give him his fifth son. Twins 7, Mariners 2 guarded the rim. 30 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix career multi-homer game. Rockies 8, Padres 7 In Seattle, Nelson Cruz hit a three- Wheeler continued down the baseline, (5-7). It was the eighth time in Astros rookie Chas McCormick also In Denver, pinch-hitter Charlie run homer against his former team, created some space and sank a shot Griner’s career she reached 30 points hit two home runs on a night when Blackmon singled home the winning rookie starter Bailey Ober struck out over the outstretched arm of Griner for and 10 boards in a single game. Houston went deep a season-high six run in the ninth inning and Colorado six and Minnesota beat Seattle. a two-possession lead. Sophie Cunningham made three of times. shook off a monster homer by Cruz’s second-deck shot to left field Wheeler, in her sixth WNBA sea- her first four 3-pointers and finished Red Sox 10, Braves 8 Fernando Tatis Jr. to beat stumbling Philadelphia Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins, in the fifth inning made it 6-0 and son, finished off her first career dou- with 16 points. Skylar Diggins-Smith In Atlanta, Christian Arroyo slugged San Diego. (right), hits a solo home run during helped snap the Twins’ three-game ble-double adding 10 assists and five added 15 points, six rebounds and 10 a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh Tatis hit a 477-foot homer, the lon- the first inning of a baseball game, losing streak. Ryan Jeffers followed rebounds for Los Angeles (5-5). She assists. inning to give Boston the lead and the gest of his career and his NL-leading on June 16, in Los Angeles. (AP) with a solo homer two batters later.